Percy: “We want to compete in the America’s Cup”

Artemis Racing sailing director Iain Percy spoke to AC Uncut this weekend to talk about the team’s intention to carry on competing in the Louis Vuitton Cup, America’s Cup Challenger Series. The Swedish challenger is in the process of getting its second AC72 ready to sail following a capsize last month that severely damaged its first boat and led to the death of Percy’s best friend and teammate, Andrew ‘Bart’ Simpson. “We didn’t want to end with this being our final chapter… Our decision (to stay in the competition) was an easy one,” Percy said. “We’re sportsmen and we’re America’s Cup sailors. And we want to compete in the America’s Cup. It’s a fantastic competition. We all support it. Our owner really supports it so we want to be a part of it. It’s going to be a great event here in San Francisco so I think it will be right for Bart and for the team for us to be out there.” Percy says his team is working as hard as possible to get out and race he says he’s “disappointed” in the reaction of some of the opposing teams. “Losing a friend is very different to getting revved up for a competition. So for us it’s been very strange and disappointing to not understand that people see things differently from us. We want to get out and race and we can’t see why that wouldn’t be good for every team in the event,” he said. “We find it strange that people want to stop that but it doesn’t deter us in any way. We have our processes and our own challenges without trying to be stopped by the opposition. We want to leave that behind and get on with trying to support the event and get our team out on the water.” Artemis Racing has indicated it is likely to miss some of its opening round matches as it resumes sailing in early July and working its second AC72 towards a state of race-readiness for later in the month. http://youtu.be/PGvafK6z_vE